


Everything's Fine

by princessofthedeadsheep



Series: A Step in the Wrong Direction [2]
Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: Epic Friendship, Families of Choice, Family, Friendship/Love, Gen, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Male Friendship, Unconventional Families
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-19
Updated: 2014-09-19
Packaged: 2018-02-18 01:00:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,121
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2329457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princessofthedeadsheep/pseuds/princessofthedeadsheep
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jeremy knows more than he is saying</p>
            </blockquote>





	Everything's Fine

**Author's Note:**

> There have been requests for an extension to this story, and while I'm not sure where i could go forward, I decided to write this little thing to accompany it. I have no idea what I would do to continue it into a series, so if you have ideas, let me know.

Jeremy was not credited as the smartest boy at Kadic without reason. He knew there was something going on with Odd and Ulrich. 

It was the little things at first. It got weird when Ulrich asked Jeremy to hold onto his scissors, and it was just downright strange how little Ulrich would talk about why his scissors were now stored in Jeremy's room. Ulrich also seemed to be more aware of Odd. Not in a romantic way, but rather in the subtle ways in which Yumi was aware of Aelita, ensuring that she was okay. In that way, so did Ulrich ensure Odd was okay. Odd and Ulrich seemed closer, somehow. It wasn't anything he could really point out, not something he could immediately identify, but it reminded him of how he and Yumi were. There was a comradery, an understanding, and Jeremy respected that. He did not ask questions. 

That changed when he heard them fighting one day. Jeremy had been sitting at his computer working on the last of his homework when he heard the sounds of Ulrich and Odd fighting. It was something he was not unused to hearing, and it made him think of how there were times when it seemed like they didn't even make good friends. So he ignored it at first. Then he realized that there was something different going on. The shift in tone was not impossible to find when one had been hearing these fights for over a year. Odd was doing more shouting then Ulrich. In fact, Ulrich did not appear to be shouting at all. It was most unusual. But then he realized that there was an edge of panic in Odd's tone. There was something off about the way he was yelling. 

Most would never pick up on it- it was not something Odd advertised- but Jeremy had been in enough life threatening situations with the other Lyoko Warriors with the sounds of their voices ringing into his ears (so close and impossible to miss) he had long ago learned the nuances of each voice, the slight shifts in tone, the verbal ticks that spelled trouble. 

Abandoning his computer, Jeremy had worriedly opened his door and gone over towards Ulrich and Odd's room, wondering if he should knock and interrupt or let things simmer down as they always did. He pressed his ear to the door and listened to the argument hoping it would make the decision for him when he heard what Odd was saying and froze. 

"Dammit why do you have to do this? I just... it's only a little bit and I just... you don't understand! I need it." 

"No Odd." Jeremy could hardly hear Ulrich's quiet voice. It was calm and measured, his 'I'm being serious' voice. "You don't. Everything is going to be fine. I know you're upset, but this isn't the way to solve things." 

"I hate this! I hate you! I never asked you to do this for me. I don't want you to do this. Stop it! Just let me rot!" 

"Odd, listen to me. This isn't going to solve anything. I know that you think it's going to help, but it isn't. I'm doing this because I care about you. I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore." Jeremy felt his stomach plunge to his feet. Did Ulrich mean what Jeremy thought he did? 

"No you don't. You don't care. No one does. I hate you, just like you hate me. You don't know what I need, what I want. You don't know anything." 

"Well it doesn't matter if that's what you think. I'm not letting you cut yourself Odd. It isn't happening. Yell at me all you want- I won't stop you- but don't you dare hurt yourself." Feeling sick, Jeremy went back to his own room, taking care not to run and give away his presence. 

Mindlessly, he went back to his work, finishing his homework before he got up and began to pace. Odd had been hurting himself? For how long? Why? How had they not noticed? What if there were other things? And most importantly... What should Jeremy do now? 

CLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCLCL 

The next day, Jeremy found Ulrich on his own for a moment. Odd had left, undoubtedly to get more food as well as the art project that he actually did do from his room. Yumi and Aelita had gone off for some girl time. He sat down next to Ulrich and started fiddling with his hands. 

"What's wrong?" Ulrich asked almost immediately. Jeremy smiled ruefully. Ulrich was more empathetic and aware than he was given credit for. He could usually tell something was wrong before Jeremy could...with the exception of Yumi, who seemed to cause a lot of blind spots in Ulrich's vision if he wasn't careful. 

"I heard you and Odd arguing last night. Normally I would have ignored it, but there was something off about the way Odd spoke. I only went over to make sure you guys were okay." Ulrich's face, utterly unreadable, studied Jeremy's. 

"What did you hear?" 

"You saying you wouldn't let Odd hurt himself, Odd saying he hated you and you didn't understand." Ulrich sighed before he ran a hand through his hair. 

"He says stuff like that a lot at... those times." He dropped his hand and looked into Jeremy's eyes. "Don't tell Odd you know. I don't think he'd handle it well right now." 

"I guess I won't." Jeremy was still unsure, but he knew Ulrich would have the best idea of how to handle this. "Just answer something for me." Ulrich raised an eyebrow then motioned for Jeremy to continue. "How long has this been going on? How long has he been...?" 

"Before he got here. You didn't notice because you never knew him before it started. None of us did. Don't feel guilty for not realizing. He did a lot to hide it from us. From everyone." 

Jeremy gave a weak smile. Leave it to Ulrich to figure out why he wanted to know the when. Odd came running up then. 

"Hey Einstein! Are you excited for art?" 

"Not especially." Jeremy did his best to push his smile into what he would normally give. It must have worked, because Odd didn't seem to think anything was wrong. "I much prefer science, but you know that already." 

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to live with that, what with an Einstein like you as a friend. How are things?" Odd asked, slapping Jeremy on the back presumably just because he could. 

Jeremy looked at Ulrich for a quick moment, and seeing the ghost of a smile, he looked back at Odd and said "Everything's fine."


End file.
